'Sexy chicken' ruffles feathers

PeTA all riled up over a newspaper photograph featuring a provocatively positioned chicken, calls it ghastly

A photo of a chicken published in The New York Times has sparked a debate between animal welfare groups.

PeTA has spoken out about the photo of a fresh whole chicken lying in a controversial pose.

Hot chick: PeTA has called the advert sickly and downright offensive not only to vegetarians but to everyone and accused New York Times of necrophilia.

The image, which featured on the front page of the broadsheet's Dining and Wine section, outraged extreme vegan organisation PeTA.

Offensive"When I saw it I just couldn't believe that an editor of The New York Times would find it acceptable," said PeTA founder and president Ingrid Newkirk.

"It's downright offensive, not just to people who care about animals but almost to everyone. It's [a] plucked, beheaded, young chicken in a young pose. It's necrophilia. It's not amusing. It's just ghastly and sickly."

Rather than weighing in on the argument, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) instead drew attention to PeTA's hypocritical stance.

PeTA is the organisation that encourages celebrities like Eva Mendes, Khloe Kardashian and more recently, Australian Ruby Rose, to strip down to promote their anti-fur message, Fur? I'd Rather Go Naked.

"While PeTA chooses to use celebrities and images of scantily clad young women to publicise many of their campaigns, the RSPCA is an animal welfare organisation which bases its policies on science and common sense," said RSPCA spokesman Tim Mayne.

PeTA is no stranger to the sex sells message. The organisation is now in the process of launching an adult's only site containing X-rated images alongside messages regarding the cruelty involved in the slaughtering of chickens.

Meanwhile, a Twitter account called @NYTchicken, also known as Sexy Chicken, appeared, mocking the controversy between PeTA and the newspaper. Tweets from the so-called Sexy Chicken include messages like "Yes. They're real. Now, stop staring at them" and "I know you've been checking me out and asking about me.

There's no need to be shy. Yes, I'm organic. And, yes, I am single." The account now has risen to viral fame with around 1,600 followers, but is currently only following the Twitter accounts of Chickens on Camera, Kentucky Fried Chicken and New York Times Dining Editor Pete Wells.The chicken also added that she felt like Scarlett Johansson.